Oil and dust guard for journal-boxes



J. GOTHNER.

OIL AND DUST GUARD FOR JOURNAL BOXES. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 31. 1919.

1,336,428. Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

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Jenn commas, or snrnnron, Wisconsin, ASSIGNOR on ONE-FIFTH TO nnnns'r w.

coon, ONE-FIFTH T0 WILLIAM R. HALLEM, ONE-FIFTH T0 JGHN I-IANEY, ANDounrrrrrr T0 sonon L. rennin, ALL or SUPERIOR, WISCONSIN.

GIL AND IDUS'I GUARD FOR JOURNAL-BOXES.

Application filed January 31, 1919. Serial No. 274,208.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat l, dorm GorHNnn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Superior, in the county of Douglas and State of l visconsin,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gi l and DustGuards for Journal-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in oil and dust guards, andmore especially to a device possessing special utility in connectionwith journal boxes of railway rolling stock.

The general practice heretofore in vogue for preventing oil and wastefrom escaping from the journal box, has been to employ a relativelyfixed wooden dust guard which simply consists of a piece of wood havinga suitable opening to provide clearance for the However, the lateraledges of the opening of this form of guard are subjected to rapid weardue to backward and forward thrust of the journal axle, resulting in theenlargement of the opening in the guard, particularly at the sidesthereof, whereby not only waste and oil may escape but dirt and dustadmitted. Various means and devices have been proposed for remedyingthis defect, but the same have usually been more or less complicated andin many instances involve springs and other expensive and undesirablemechanical parts which are not only liable to malfunction, but alsocause undue excessive wear on the axle.

Accordingly the present invention has primarily in view a novel dust andoil guard unit which preserves all of the desirable fea tures andcharacteristics of the widely used wooden block, butat the same timeprovides means for compensating the wear incident to varying conditionsof use.

A further and more specific object of the invention is to provide anovel and practical structure which is practically indestructible, owingto the fact that the relatively movable part of the unit is subjected topractically none of the wearing or grinding effects of the axle, due toits being mounted so as to readily follow the'movement thereof due tothe application of the brakes, and overcoming the inertia of train loadin starting.

Another object of the invention is to provide a unit which isinexpensive, practical and thoroughly reliable for the purpose ofretaining oil and excluding foreign matter from the journal box.

"With the above and other objects in view which will more readily appearas the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consistsin the novel construction, combination and arrangement of partshereinafter more fully illustrated, described and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a vertical sectional View ofa journal box showing the application of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the oil and dust proof guard unit.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic plan View showing the original initial relationof parts.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing how the follower guard platemay shift with the movement of the axle to cover the opening in the wearbody.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several figures of the drawing.

As previously pointed out, the means enerally employed for excluding oiland ust from a journal box is a piece of wood having a suitable axleclearance opening therein which is adapted to be inserted in the guardreceiving slot of the journal box. Owing to the limitations in the sizeof the box this wooden dust guard has a snug lateral fit in the slot,but may have more or less vertical play therein to compensate for themovemerit of the axle due to conditions of load and vertical thrusts orshocks imparted from the rolling stock. However, the strains imposed onthe lateral sides of the wooden dust guard by the axle, due to theapplication of the brakes, and the inertia of starting, rapidly wearsout such sides of the wooden guard so that in a short time an ellipticalopening is formed with its long diameter disposed horizontally, or inthe direction of the imposition of axle pressure due to the conditionsabove mentioned. Obviously this opening affords an entrance for dustand-foreign matter and also permits oil to escape on to the tread of thewheel, etc, which is undesirable since it interferes with the efiiciencyof the brake shoes.

worn opposite edges of the axle clearance opening in the wooden wearbody. By.ref-'- erence to the drawings it will be observed that thewooden -wear body is designated generally as 1 and is preferably made ofthe conventional dimensions in order to fit within the dust guardreceiving slot S of the journal box B which is intended 'to receive thejournal box of the axle A 1n the well known manner. This wooden wearbody is preferably recessed on one side as indicated at 2 and hasfittedto the top and bottom edges thereof suitable metallic orequivalent guide strips 33 whose edges l cooperate with the sides of therecess 2 to provide a horizontal guide-way G. In addition to providingthe guide-way G these guide strips 3 constitute an effectivereinforcement for the body 1 and also prevent the same from warping orsplitting as is frequently the case with the ordinary wooden dust guard.

The said wear body 1 is formed with a central axle clearance opening 5which originally has a reasonably snug fit on the axle, and if it werenot for the lateral thrusts imposed on the sides of this opening itmight satisfactorily perform its functions. However, owing to the effectof these thrusts, as previously pointed out, the sides of this openingbecome' worn as indicated by the" dotted line 5 in Fig. 4, and to takecare of this wear the present invention proposes to mount in the guidesG formed by the strips 3-3, a horizontally shiftable follower guardplate 6 having an opening 7 for closely fitting the journal end of theaxle. This follower guard plate is preferably made of hard fiber or itsequivalent which insures maximum efficiency and length of use, and

owing to its being slidably mounted in the guide-way of the wear body,freely follows any lateral movement of the journal end of the axlewithin the journal box. This free and unrestricted lateral movement ofthe follower guard plate 6 therefore causes the same to always closeorcover the wornaway part at the sides of the opening 5 as shown in Fig.4. That is to say, the lateral skirt portions 8 of the fiber followerguard plate constitute a cover or seal for the wornaway edges of theaxle clearance opening -in the wear body plate in all horizontal andheld in sliding relation to the wear body to vertical loads or road bedthrusts.

From the foregoing it is believed that the many features and advantagesof the present oil and dust proof guard unit will be readily apparent,but it is desired to emphasize the fact that the present inventionprovides a unit which may be readily handled and inserted in theordinary journal box without changing its structure in any way, and?which preserves all of the ad: vantages of a wooden-dust guard with theadded desirable advantage of rendering the same practicallyindestructible, which is of course a great factor in the up-keep of thisportion of railway rolling stock.

I claim:

'1. A dust guard unit for journal boxes including a wear body having anaxle clearance opening, combined reinforcing and guideway forming meanscarried by opposite sides of the body, and a follower guard plate alsohaving an axle clearance opening by said combined reinforcing andguideway forming means.

2. A dust guard unit. for journal boxes including a wooden wear bodyhaving a horizontal guide-way and a central axle clearance opening, anda fiber follower guard plate having a central axle clearance openingadapted to register with the similar opening in the wear body andmounted in said horizontal guide-way for lateral movement, said followerguard plate'having opposite skirt portions for cooperating with theopposite sides of the opening in the wear body when the same becomesworn.

' 3. A dust guard unit for journal boxes including a wooden wear bodyhavingan. axle clearance opening, metallic relnforcing means at the topandbottom of said body and cooperating therewith to provide a guid'ewa'and an axle embracing follower guard p ate mounted in said guide-Way andmovable independently of the wear body.

4. A dust guard unit for journal boxes including a wear body'having acentral axle clearance opening and also recessed on one face thereof,reinforcing strips secured to the top and bottom edges of the Wear bodyand having one of their edge portions cooperating with the side walls ofthe recessed portions of the wear body to ,provideopposite guide-ways,and a fiber follower guard plate having a central axle clearance openingand slidably mounted in said guideways.

including a Wooden wear body having a central axle clearance openinginitially of the same diameter as the axle and having one face thereofrecessed, angular reinforcing strips secured to the top and bottom edgesof the wear body and having the vertical wings thereof cooperating withthe sides of the recess in the wear body to provide opposite retainingguideeways and a fiber follower guard plate also having a central axlereceiving opening of the same diameter as the axle, said guard platebeing slidably mounted in the uide-ways and held in place by the edges0% the angular reinforcing strips. v

6. A dust guard unit for journal boxes including a wear body having anaxle clearance opening initially of the same diameter as the axle, saidplate adapted to occupy a relatively fixed position against horizontalmovement in the journal box, 'follower guides, and a single horizontallyslidable follower guard plate cooperating with. said follower guides andprovided, with an axle clearance opening adapted to be permanently ofthe' same diameter as the axle and compensate for subsequent wear of theaxle receiving opening of the wear body.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aifix 'my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

JOHN GOTHNER. Witnesses:

ELLEN C. PETERSON, CANA M. COLoN.

